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What She Never Knew	By : SisterWine Category: 1 through F > Cold Case Views: 481 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Cold Case or any of its characters. My Characters are The Canne family, Monica and Stacy and Travis DiNuccio. Please do not sue. This is FICTION. I make no money.

Chapter List
- 1-One
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 7
- 8
- 9
Terri and Joe sat in the car, in the parking lot and faced the table where Rachel and the others sat. Neither moved to exit the vehicle and neither said a word, for the longest time. Terri had driven them there and parked at Joe's request, where he could see whom he would be dealing with. She gave it about five more minutes and then leant closer to him. "Are you sure you want to do this? With her?"
Joe shivered as he thought about being that close to the woman that broke his heart and soul but also realised that Rachel and the two detectives would be within reaching distance too. He wasn't sure if that was a good idea, or not. He bit his lip and wanted to tell her to go home but, he had promised Rachel to finish the incident and he wouldn't let her down. He sighed and then swallowed, keeping his eyes fixed on the woman to Rachel's left, facing them. "It won't be over until I end it, right?" He swallowed again but this time it was the lump of fear that had risen in his throat since the two detectives knocked on their door. "I'll be okay. Just, wait here, for me." He opened the door to the white Camry and stepped out, grabbing his brown wood cane and closing the door behind him before starting over the grassy area to where they sat.
She had turned the engine off when they arrived and rolled down all four of the windows and sighed as she watched him limp across the field.
The four were busy talking about other details of the case that they hadn't noticed him walk up to the table and stop beside Rachel, who stood and wrapped her arms around him.
Scotty also stood and offered Joe his seat on the cement bench whilst he chose to stand at the end of the table. "Rachel was just telling us about your seclusion, after Michael found you on the hill. Care to share your side of things?" He waited for Joe to get settled and look up at him before he started to speak.
"My side of things." Joe whispered and smirked at the irony. No one had ever asked him his side of anything before. He looked over to Rachel for reassurance, as she sat back down in her seat and nodded that it was ok for him to do so. "Where do I begin?" In the movement of Rachel greeting him and Scotty standing to offer his seat, Joe had tucked his cane behind him, using the gray windbreaker he carried, to hide most of the shaft. As he had sat down, he made sure to conseal the cane under the table and out of Jennifer's line of sight.
Lily turned and shifted in her seat, to face him, and continued to speak calmly. "Do you remember anything of that day?"
Joe turned his head away from her, his breath ragged.
Reaching across the table and holding onto Joe's hand, Rachel whispered to him. "Hey, it's okay." She waited until he looked at her to reassure him before flashing a smile.
Joe shook his head. "It's not a question of remembering. It's something I'll never forget." It took a minute for the breeze to catch Jennifer's soft perfume and travel it over to his nose. After an inhale, he had to hold his breath and tell himself to continue and that Rachel wouldn't let anything happen to him. Still the memory of her and that scent was all too present. He could feel her stare on him and he shivered as he gave a quick glance in her direction.
~~~~~~~

14 June 1999
They walked for a bit in silence. Mark's arm around Travis's neck seemed to get tighter as they came to stop, just in view of the sign. He stood frozen as a hand clamped down onto the back of his neck and held him there. "I think I should get home, now. Please." His voice was shaky as he was forced to stare straight ahead. Travis heard footsteps behind them stop within feet of where he and Mark stood.
"We will. But first, we thought you should see the sign." Mark smirked and glanced over his shoulder at his two buddies, who followed them.
Travis swallowed as he felt Mark's thumb press into the side of his neck. "I see it." He pointed to the large white Y, just below them and gave a nervous smile.
Mark smirked and nodded. "Yep, there she is." He then shifted and turned to face Travis, standing just off to the side of him. "You had quite the day, huh? You get to take a ride in the car, see the sign-- many people never get to say they did that. Somethin you can really write home about, huh?" Mark gave a cruel chuckle. "Bet your momma's gonna be so proud. Oh! I forgot... You ain't got a momma, do you? What's a matter? She didn't like you either?" He laughed and tossed a look back at his friends as they had laughed also.
"S-s-she died." Travis felt the verbal slap but tried not to show it.
"Did she? Well, I'm sure if I had a bastard like you, I'd kill myself, too." Mark could see his words dug deep into Travis and after a small silence, he stepped closer to him and whispered into Travis's ear, his hand grabbing a fistful of black curly hair. "I can see how you'd want to snuggle up to some pretty little skirt, cry all your tears on her soft tits. But, that doesn't mean you get to poach my girl from me."
Travis swallowed and flinched as the hair pulling hurt. "I w-w-would never. Sh-she doesn't even like me."
Mark nodded, sympathetically. "I bet she doesn't." Giving a big yank on Travis's hair at the nape of his neck, he leant in closer. "It's all over you, boy. Who could blame ya, right? I mean, she's hot. She was good, right? Nice and sweet and just enough to whet your whistle."
A deep pang of guilt hit Travis.
"I've seen how you look at her. Always doggin' her at school, at HER house, starin' at her like some kinda freak."
Travis kept his focus on the tall letter at the midway part of the hill. The sun had started to set and now shined in his eyes, making him squint but every time he tried to turn his head away from both the sun and Mark, he was snapped back as the fist in his hair reminded him who was in control. "I'm sorry."
Mark laughed and loosened his grip on Travis's hair. "Well, that's ok. I know, she's hot suff. I also know, it won't happen again. Will it?"
Shaking his head, Travis breathed a sigh of relief as the hand on his hair let go. "No sir."
"Good." Mark smiled. "We'll just make sure of that." He stepped back just as Kurt, his youngest lackey, took a swing and landed the Slugger in the middle of Travis's back, knocking the man to the ground and relieving him of the air in his lungs.
Gasping for air and falling face first into the ground, Travis groaned and tried to push himself up to his knees and hands but was kicked in the right temple by Jase, Mark's best friend from middle school. He reached for anything close and managed to grab a fistful of dirt and toss it over his shoulder at the two thuggish lackeys, gaining a scream from each as they backed off. His next move was to swing a leg back and catch Mark's legs in the knees, causing him to fall over and let out a blood-curdling scream of pain. Gasping for what little air he could get, Travis pushed himself to his feet and ran back to the car. Nearly tripping over the curb, he picked himself up again and lurched for the doorhandle on the driver's side. His heart sank as he found it was locked. He gasped as he heard them coming and he groaned and ran across the roadway, hoping to hide in the denser brush, under cover of night.
~~~~~~~
Scotty shifted. "So, if you didn't tell Mark, and Jennifer didn't.... how'd he find out?" He watched Travis' expressions change and stood poised to write.
Joe shook his head. "I don't know. No one ever paid me much attention until..." He had only glanced up at Scotty and then back to the table in front of him.
"If you were 'no one special', how did he know so much about your mother?" Lily queried. She glanced over at Jennifer, who stared at Travis as if she'd forget what he looked like if she even blinked.
Again, Joe shook his head and lowered it in shame. "I don't know. I didn't kill my mother. I was only four years old." He could feel their eyes on him but couldn't bring himself to see the judgments on their faces. Joe felt ill when the others fell silent for longer than he felt they should have.
Jennifer swallowed and shifted in her seat. "I- I think I might have." She looked over at Lily and gave a guilty grin. Biting her lip and inhaling as she and Joe finally met eyes, Jennifer whimpered as she stared at the hurt on his face. "I'm sorry. It was just... it was all a joke... to us... but--" Gasping as a tear slipped down her cheek, Jennifer tried to reach across the table and take his hand. "Travis, I'm sorry. I never meant for it to go so far."
Rachel looked over at Lily, who sat mainly confused but willing to listen to the story. "His mom and our mom were university friends. She was a nice lady. I met her once. Anyway, Travis's younger twin brother, Marco, died after he fell off of the jungle gym. His mom died a few years later, she was at a party and did a little too much drugs. The social worker said that Travis was in the room and saw it happen." She looked over at Joe with a small smile of empathy.
Feeling ashamed, Joe felt he needed to distance himself from the group. He could feel the bile rise in his throat as Jennifer tried to inch closer and regain his attention. "I can't do this. I have to go." Glancing up and catching Rachel's eye, Joe struggled to his feet, with the help of Scotty, beside him.
Scotty held Joe by the arm and helped him to his feet, giving him a chance to speak candidly with him. "Hey, Joe, this might be the last time you get to put those away who did you wrong. You really want to walk away from this?"
"I can't do this with her. Not now." Joe whispered. He looked up and over towards the car, where Terri had already opened the door and stepped out in worry of what was going on between he and Scotty. He stepped forward and held out a hand as Terri ran closer.
Jennifer took a breath and stood up, climbing over the cement bench and rushing over to where Joe and Scotty still stood. "Travis, please! I didn't mean to hurt you." She came around to stand in front of him and hold him by the arm.
A voice came from behind them and snapped at Jennifer just as Terri came within a foot of Joe. "You can take your hands off him." Terri spoke angrilly at Jennifer and glared at her to move her point across to the younger Californian. When Jennifer only whipped around and stared at her in shock, she reiterated. "Didja hear me?"
Releasing her hold on Joe, Jennifer backed up and watched as Terri wrapped her arms around Joe and held him as he sobbed, overwhelmed with the day. "Travis, who is this?" She stood there, stunned at the two embracing.
Terri patted his back and then pulled away from him to turn back and look at the woman who ruined her lover's life. "The name's Terri. I'm his girl, now so, you can just pack up and take your happy little ass back to the beach, girl. I can treat him better." A protective tone edged into Terri's words and forced Jennifer to take a step back from the bluntness of her words.
Once Joe gathered himself, after hearing Terri's defensive words, he took a breath and came up with the strength to speak. "I want to go home." Looking from Terri to Jennifer, he added. "If you come after me again, I will file harassment, on all of you. Leave me alone. I'm not your precious whipping boy anymore." Grabbing his cane and leaning on it, he hadn't cared that Jennifer had seen it or the horror on her face as he had needed it to walk, ever since that night on the hill.
Jennifer's eyes remained glued on the cane until they started to walk back to the car. "Wait! Trav-- Joe,... wait." She looked up as they stopped and he turned around as he heard his name. She paused a minute as she made up her mind from deciding to either let him go or give him what she had traveled across country with. She turned and went back to the bench and grabbed her oversized maroon purse and opened it. She reached in and rubbed her thumb against the arm of the bear, smiling to herself she removed it and held it close to her as she dropped the purse onto the bench. Jennifer let the smile fade as she made her way back to where Joe and Terri stood. She stopped and took a breath as she stared at the small, blue face of the stuffed bear. "I wanted to give this to you. I think it deserves to be home with you."
"Bleu." Joe said, breathless. His eyes brightened as he stared at the face of the small toy bear. He felt a rush of excitement as she handed him his old friend. "My mother gave him to me, for my fourth birthday." Embracing the bear, he sighed and felt a calm wash over him. He remembered the feel of the soft fur and the satin blue bow around the bear's neck and the friendly face that had always greated him after a long, grueling day.
"I kept him safe for you." Jennifer watched with broken heart as he held the bear close. Not being able to stand it any longer, she turned and walked back to her seat.
~~~~~~~~
Joe sat back down on the bench and held the bear on his lap. With Terri standing behind him with her hands on his shoulders, he felt he could continue a little further with the account of 1999. "I ran, and I ran and I climbed until I couldn't anymore." He stopped and sighed, feeling overwhelmed once again. "I don't know how long I was lying there but, I was ready to go. My head hurt, my back and sides were just throbbing and it felt like my heart was going to explode. I just... couldn't catch my breath. I heard cars passing on the road and I couldn't move. It hurt so much to just breathe." Another pause and a deep breath as he calmed himself from the memory and the terror he felt.
"Rachel said Becky's son, Michael, found you. How did he know you were up there?" Scotty shifted and looked up from his writing.
Shaking his head, Joe shrugged. "He didn't. I didn't know who found me until days later, when I woke up in Daniel's spare room."
"When I woke up, they told me I had been shot, in the hip. Rachel dug it out and they had to keep me sedated to heal my broken ribs and fractured arm. Aparently, Ma-- he stomped on my left arm. I was a mess for a long while. Michael came by every day and tried to cheer me up or have lunch or breakfast with me, to shake me out of wherever I was." Joe stared down at his bear and took deep breaths.
Rachel picked up the missing pieces and filled them in. "He spent about two months sedated or relaxed until he healed enough to be able to move and understand what had happened. He had terrible nightmares, and he would often wake up crying or screaming."
Lily went over her own notes from the interview and shifted on her seat. "So, who came up with the name change?" She looked form one to the other as they shared a silence.
"Joe did." Rachel nodded over to him.
"It was after Akron that we decided on a change. I was tired of the private investigators always over my shoulder. So, I chose Joseph from my brother's middle name and Carmine, which is my middle name. After the last guy, I had had enough so, I changed it. That was around the time I met Terri. She's been heaven-sent to me . She loves me for me, no games, no strings, no discourse." He raised a hand and placed it on Terri's that rest on his right shoulder. He glanced around but stopped as he saw that his last statement seemed to bite at Jennifer.
Scotty nodded as he wrote. "Do you think you'd be willing to press charges? I mean, mental duress, physical assault, verbal abuse, attempted murder.... This guy should not be walking around, free as a bird. But, you would also have to press charges on the Cannes....?"
Joe looked up at Scotty and the two men shared a look of understanding. "I don't know. This is a bit much, right now." He looked down at his bear and smiled. He had felt lighter than he had in years.
Moving to embrace him from behind, Terri kissed Joe's left temple and then looked up at Scotty. "I'll be right there with him. With whatever he decides."
Smiling and fishing a card out of her pocket and sliding it across the table to Joe, Lily slipped her pen and pad into her coat pocket and stood up. "That's my number in case you decide, or not." She watched as Scotty did the same with his card, handing it to Terri, before she continued. "Can we give you two a ride back to your hotel?" She asked Jennifer and Rachel, who still sat on the bench across from them.
Rachel smiled. "That would be great. Thank you." She gave a wink to Joe and stood up before looking over to her sister, who remained seated.
"Can I have a word with J-Joe, a minute? Please?" Jennifer stared at him and noted his uneasy reaction as he looked at the others' faces and nodded.
Lily nodded and moved to stand where Scotty was and took one last look back at Joe before speaking. "Of course. But, we won't be far."
Once Rachel, Terri and the two detectives moved a few yards away, Jennifer slid down to sit across from him and gathered her words of what to say. Her lips parted as she had so much to say but no beginning on where to start. She could feel him staring at her, waiting for her to say what she wanted to him but nothing came out. Finally, she noticed his movement to stand up and snapped herself out of her daze. "Wait." She took a breath and found herself staring up, into his soft brown eyes. The same eyes that had haunted her since their night together. "Travis, I'm so sorry for how I've treated you." Her voice was low and calm as she started. "I've spent years looking because... I just... That night, in your room, I didn't realise how much... human... you actually were." Her eyes lowered to the table as his calm but piercing stare unnerved her. "Monica told me about that night at the party; how you carried me up to my room and were terrified to set foot inside. Then, they told me about how you made them breakfast and cleaned up the mess before passing out, later that afternoon. I never thought to tell you that you were such a great cook, or that you had an amasing gift of drawing from memory. You could have taken all your anger out on me and my family, in your sketchbook, but you didn't." She stopped herself as the tears welled up in her eyes and choked her voice. After a long silence, she continued. "That night, it was special and nice. I didn't expect you to ask me for a hug, or even to kiss me back. Mark had-- he took what he wanted and usually treated me like a possession. You treated me like I was fragile glass, something I had never had before. I- I didn't tell him about that night and what happened. I swear. But, I must have told him my new view on you and how sweet you were and that must have set him off." She took another breath and looked up at him, seeing his same calm patience staring back at her. "Please believe me, I didn't know what he would do. I certainly didn't mean to harm you. I didn't know about your heart until we were cleaning your room and I found your letter."
Joe sat there a minute and listened. After a pause, he reached back and removed his faded bilfold from his right back pocket and opened it. Removing a folded five dollar bill and unfolding it, he laid it on the table, between them. "I have hated that night since I woke up and found this on my bedtable. All of the hurt from the years before seemed like nothing, compared to this. It took years to believe that not every woman was like you. Terri is that woman. And to be honest, I really expected to die on that hill. I knew Michael would search for me but, as it turned out, Rachel and Danny were more human than anyone else in your family. I've had to relearn a lot of things, Jennifer. How to walk, how to actually speak to people as their equal and not a servant, and how to hold my head high." He paused and inhaled deeply, releasing it before finishing. "I hope you and Mark are very happy, together. I meant what I said, I don't need to see you again."
Jennifer gasped at the words and wiped a tear that sat on her cheek. "I had a son. Our son." She took a ragged breath and dug in her purse for her picture book that she carried. Opening it and removing the small 3x5 photo of a young, brown haired boy, she handed it to him. "His name is Marco. He'll be 10 in a few weeks. I've tried to find you all this time so I could tell you. All, he wants for his birthday, is to know his daddy." She stared at the photo in his hand, as he stared at the same little boy with his face, who smiled brightly for the camera. "He's my life, Travis. Mark and I said goodbye a long time ago, and I never--... he's your son, Travis. Please. You don't have to stay, or even come. Just a phone call or a letter or something to let him know you care." Jennifer sniffled as she sat and replaced the photobook to her purse. "I hope she makes you happy. You deserve to be the happiest, after bearing the worst. Goodbye, Travis. I promise I'll leave you alone."
"It's a good name; Marco." Joe said as Jennifer stood up and turned to leave, taking the faded five dollar with her. He looked up at her. "I'll think about it. Have a safe flight home."

Continued.
- 7
- 8
- 9
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What She Never Knew